The Wrath of Kane
by ADAM'S GALS
Summary: What if Kane from the Crucible had a brother, and that brother was just as mad? What would he do when he learned of his brother's death in the desert?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Adam turned when he heard someone entering his hotel room. "You, what are you doing here? How did you find me?"

The man sneered as he looked Adam up and down and then said "Looks like I caught you at a good time for me. You're not wearing a gun so the advantage is all mine. You thought I wouldn't find you, huh, Cartwright? Did you really believe that I wouldn't hunt you down like the dog you are after you killed my brother. Yes, that was my brother. From the look on your face, you thought you were seeing a real ghost. You thought he died in that desert, and then he showed up here alive and well. No, he's my twin and you killed him."

Adam kept staring at him with a glazed look. "He tried to kill me - he tried to break my spirit and nearly succeeded. I wanted him dead, but I did not kill him. What do you want from me?"

"I want you to feel what my brother felt. I want you to know the hopelessness he felt, the loneliness, and the knowing that he was going to die long before it happened. Dying from thirst is a slow death, isn't it? You feel yourself succumbing and your head starts pounding and your stomach rebels but there's nothing there to spew out. Your tongue sticks to the roof of your mouth. Your lips crack. Your body gets hotter and hotter and there's no relief. All that pain and he knew it but you gave him no comfort and no water."

Adam bent over to sneeze and pulled the knife he always kept in his boot and threw it at the twin and barely missed hitting Joshua Kane in the chest. Adam lunged for his knife but Kane did too and the fight was on. Both men struggled for the knife and traded blows until there was yelling from next door as Joe heard the commotion. That startled Kane who released his hold on the knife and bolted from the room. Adam jumped up to follow him, but barefoot, shirtless, and without his gun, he wasn't going to get very far. Kane was quickly out of sight.

Joe stepped out of the adjoining room and asked "Are you alright Adam?"

"I'm fine, but Kane's brother was here." Adam told Joe what had happened, and then told Hoss at breakfast. For the rest of the day, Adam was nervous looking over his shoulder wondering where Kane had gone. He remembered his threats and knew he wasn't done with him yet, and he knew that he had to be on his guard at all times because Kane was after him, but only he had seen him.

As they rode out of town, Adam was sure he saw someone riding behind them, but when Hoss and Joe looked, they didn't see anyone. They began to wonder what Adam was doing. Joe finally asked because he saw Adam looking back so often and looking so worried.

"I am now thanks to you, Joe."

Joe looked at Adam. "Can you tell us why you're so worried? What's going on?"

"You know that Kane fella back some time ago that I didn't want to talk about."

"Yeah, he died."

"Yeah, well, his twin just turned up, and said he's been looking for me, and he said he wants me to feel the pain his brother suffered." Joe and Hoss looked worried and Adam nodded as he looked at them. "I've got trouble, brothers. I've got big trouble."

But no one knew the terrible memories he was facing although Joe and Hoss should have. They were there when after a terrible trek Adam crumpled into Ben's arms. That experience will never leave him but somehow he had managed to put it at the back of his mind until now.

In the next town, they stopped in the saloon for a beer and a sandwich. While they were there, Adam was startled by a laugh that sounded like that maniacal laugh of Kane's. When he looked around, he didn't see Kane's brother. Hoss and Joe said he was getting too worried and that Kane wouldn't dare do anything with the three of them there. Adam wasn't so sure. Maybe madness ran in the family. Adam knew he had heard that laughing behind him, but he wasn't sure if he could convince his brothers so he said nothing more. He did rush his brothers through lunch hoping to get back on the trail towards home. It was a hot, dry, dusty day, and when he got to Sport he saw something printed in the dust on his saddle. It said... poison. Had their lunch been poisoned? their beer? their horses? their supplies? their canteens? or was it a promise of things to come?

Adam wasn't sure what to think. Soon Hoss and Joe came over to Adam, but he quickly wiped away the dust from the saddle even as Hoss asked what the word 'poison' meant. Hoss had noticed the writing when he walked past Sport to Chubb. Adam felt sick as he considered the import of the word. He grumbled to Hoss that it was just kids playing in the dust. He suspected his queasiness had little to do with having been poisoned yet. But he worried about his brothers and what he should say to them. He wondered if Kane would kill one or both of them instead of him to get revenger for brother for brother? He decided to not take any chances so he suggested that they should

notify the sheriff and then see if the doctor could examine them for any traces of poison before heading home.

"Yeah, you think we might have been poisoned, but what about you, Adam?" Hoss was worried.

"Don't worry about me. Please just do as I say and see a doctor. I'm not taking any chances. It's me he really wants, but he might hurt you to get to me."

"But you didn't kill his brother, Adam. Why don't you tell him?"

"Hoss, do you think he is going to believe me. I tried to tell him at the hotel. He won't listen. Please do as I ask and see a doctor in case he has poisoned you, and tell the sheriff. Then make your way home. I'll try to catch up with you. Now, go, please."

The sheriff told Hoss and Joe that he was going to follow Adam out of town to see if anyone was following him. Hoss said he and Joe would be watching too and following along behind him. If Kane was out there, they expected to find him, but Kane anticipated that and left a message for Adam at the end of town tacked to a tree and told him where to go or his brothers would die. The message said "my brother's mine", and Adam shivered. Images of his time in Hell flashed through his mind and he fought the urge to ride as fast as he could from that tree. He knew he had to return to Hell to save Hoss and Joe. So he set out to face and conquer what was lying ahead of him because he was determined to settle things once and for all. With Hoss and Little Joe in danger, he knew he had to work fast so he rode on toward the desert where the note told him to go looking all around him as he got closer. Suddenly he pulled Sport to a halt and his hands shook. He heard Kane's voice mocking him. Slowly Adam realized it was not the voice but poison that was making him shake as his whole body began to convulse. Adam could not stop it and fell from Sport as he passed out. He awoke with his head hammering and his insides cramping into knots. He knew that he had been poisoned, but wondered how it had been done. He emptied the canteen. Then he looked at his hands and saw a sticky residue. He cursed quietly and then chuckled sadly. "Facing a madman is hard. Facing him while dying will be just a little harder." He pulled himself up, grabbed Sport's reins and began walking the rest of the way into Hell. His steps halted when he heard the sound of horses. As he got closer, he could see three, and two belonged to Hoss and Joe. Slowly he walked forward until he saw Hoss and Joe tied up and leaning against a large rock. Then that damn voice.

"Ah, you finally made it."

"Let them go, Kane. It's me you want."

"About time you showed up, Cartwright." Kane's laugh was ugly. "Did you like the little surprise I left on your saddle horn? The poison will kill you slowly just like my brother died, but we have some time until then." He waited expectantly. "What? Don't you have anything to say?"

"You're as sick as your brother, Kane. What do you want me to say? I didn't kill your brother. He killed himself and nearly killed me. He put me through hell, but I still tried to save him.

"Liar! " Kane screamed and spittle flew from his mouth. "Don't lie to me."

"I'm not lying, Kane." Hoss and Joe could see the pain Adam was in, and both were trying to get themselves free because their brother needed help and fast. With Kane's attention on Adam, Hoss and Joe struggled hard and finally one of Joe's hands fell free from the ropes. He quickly took his other hand out and untied Hoss. They both got to their feet and jumped onto Kane. Adam was so weak and in pain that he fell to his knees and couldn't help his brothers not that they needed his help. Hoss hit Kane quite hard and he fell to the ground. The brothers heard Adam groaning and ran to him.

"We need help, Hoss, and fast. I'll go look for the sheriff. You stay here with Adam."

Joe rode as fast as his horse could carry him and didn't have to ride far before he met the sheriff and two deputies heading towards where Adam was with Hoss. Joe told the sheriff what had happened and that Adam needed a doctor quick because he'd been poisoned. The sheriff told one of the deputies to get back to town and tell the doctor what had happened and that they would be bringing Adam Cartwright in as fast as they could and to be ready.

Hoss helped Adam all he could, and Adam tried his very best to hold out against the poison that was ravaging his body, but he felt that he was fading fast. His vision was getting very blurry. He started sweating profusely. He worried that he was fading very fast but tried his very best to muster up all of the last remaining strength that he could. As he thought about it though, a wry smile turned Adam's lips as he grabbed the canteen from Hoss and drank more. The Kane brothers didn't kill quickly. They tormented you to death. He smelled his hand and recognized the distinct odor of creosote. He'd gotten it on his hands before. It made him sick but wasn't fatal. He drew long on the canteens trying to neutralize the effects. He needed to get to the doctor but knew he would be fine with his care. Once they saw that Adam was not in any immediate medical danger, they turned their attention back to Kane to see if he was all right after what Hoss and Joe had done to him but Kane was gone. Where he had been, there were a few small bloodstains, but the man had disappeared. Adam still needed medical attention though so they couldn't go search for Kane.

Kane survived the assault from Joe and Hoss, and he was even more determined to seek his revenge against Adam. He vowed to not let Adam get away with killing his brother. Meanwhile, Hoss tried to explain to the sheriff where Kane had gone.

"Can't anyone stop him?"

"No, Sheriff, only me."

Hoss looked at Adam still looking very weak and sick. "Adam, you ain't in fit state to go after Kane."

"I've got to get him, Hoss. He won't let up on me."

Hoss and Joe looked at each other and grinned. "Well, older brother, you ain't going alone. We are with ya."

"No, you two head home."

"Older brother, you ain't fit to do or say anything, and we ain't listening this time."

"You tell me a time you did listen to me."

"Well that one time …"

"Joe, we ain't got time to argue." Hoss was getting a little angry with them both.

The sheriff looked at the three of them. "I'm taking charge now, boys, so if you want to come along you'll do as I say, understood?"

"Yes, sheriff." the boys agreed, but Adam still felt sick. The sheriff didn't want him along, but he already knew he could not stop Adam Cartwright. Adam was so very determined to face Kane even though he knew that Kane very desperately wanted to destroy him for the death of his brother, and he would not rest until the deed was done and paid in full. That's why Adam spoke up.

"Listen: the only way to stop him is to trap him. Otherwise he keeps making up the rules. Let's set it up so that he can take me where he wants to take me, but all of you be ready to move in when he does. I'm depending on all of you. I don't feel well enough right now to fight him."

It was true, Adam still felt all the ill-effects from the poison, but he also knew he had to get his family away from Kane. He'd faced a similar decision in his last Kane-brother odyssey. His father and brothers had been within hollering distance that time, but he wouldn't alert them, knowing that his captor would have shot all of them as they came down the hill just to prove he could. He was sure that this brother would take more pleasure in breaking him than in killing him. If they came at him together, he'd kill Hoss and Little Joe so that Adam would have to live with the guilt of putting them in harm's way.

"Get going, now," he told his brothers. "Stay away until I can figure out a way to entrap him without his knowledge. He's very crafty, but he's no fool so be on your guard at all times. Watch out for any telltale signs. We can and must defeat him at all cost so stay on your Ps and Qs. I'll try to hold out for as long as I can. All right, let's get moving."

The sheriff didn't like the idea of Adam being the bait but knew it was their only chance to catch this madman so he agreed to stay with Hoss and Joe but close. Adam climbed onto Sport

"Now remember to stay away from me until we can get him and keep him. We won't have another chance." Then he rode in the direction of some tracks that Kane had left. After a few miles, Adam needed to rest so he climbed down from Sport and walked a little way to where some rocks were and sat down. His stomach still till hurting so he got his canteen of water and took a mouth full.

The water churned in his gut like a boiling pot of stew, but he stayed put until he was sure his brothers and the sheriff were far enough away, and then rode back to the camp. He knew in his gut that Kane would want to end things where this odyssey had begun, and had undoubtedly sent his horse out on its own. He'd wanted his brothers away from him because he knew Kane would go after them first. The man would do anything to obliterate Adam's mind including destroying anything or anyone that was important to him. He slipped from the saddle, still wobbly and nauseous, and walked toward the cave, knowing that Kane could be inside waiting for him or lurking nearby watching his every move, so he pulled his gun and hollered.

"You can come out now, Kane. We're alone."

A shot rang out and a bullet ripped the skin on Adam's thumb, making him drop his weapon. He fell to the ground, writhing in pain, holding his wounded hand as Kane walked over and stared down. Adam looked up at the smooth skin on the man's face, and started to laugh uncontrollably.

"What's so funny?" Kane asked angrily.

Still laughing, Adam choked out, "I see you hold your brother's same fastidiousness for shaving. Your brother might have had enough water to make it out of the desert if he hadn't had to shave every morning. So you see, I didn't kill him. It was his personal hygiene practices that did him in."

Kane shook his head as his prey continued to laugh. Adam stood up slowly still holding his hand. He knew his brothers would be close by with the sheriff. He stopped laughing. "All right, Kane, you got me. What now?"

"Well, now, let me see. How should I complete my mission? I owe you big time, Cartwright, and I will take great pleasure in seeing you slowly squirm and beg for mercy at my hands. So are you prepared to face the consequences? I'm going to have you dig your own grave knowing all the time you're digging it that you'll spend eternity in it. Here's a shovel. Start digging." Holding his pistol on Adam, Kane had him start digging. As he dug down, Kane had him step into the hole and dig deeper until he was slowly being swallowed by the desert sand it seemed.

Adam knew that the end was near unless he did something about it, but he knew that the Sheriff and his brothers were somewhere nearby watching their every move too. Knowing this it brought him a small amount of comfort, but not once did he let on that something by way of rescue was about to take place, so he continuously did as he was told. The exertion took its toll. He was sweating and feeling dizzier by the minute as he continued to toss shovel after shovel of sand from the hole. He knew he had to make his play before he got any weaker.

"You gotta see this! Who'd ever think of finding gold this deep in the sand!" Adam looked up at the man above him. When Kane dropped to the edge to peer at what Adam was pointing out, Adam swung the shovel at the madman's head. He connected, but without enough strength to finish the deed. It glanced away without doing any serious damage. The effort was too much for Adam's weary body though, and he dropped in a heap as the world turned to darkness around him. The last thing he heard was Kane's laughter.

"You made this way too easy, Cartwright."

But out in the desert, his brothers and the sheriff were ready. As Kane stood above the hole Adam had dug and aimed his pistol down at Adam, both Hoss and Joe fired at once. Kane's pistol fired too when their bullets hit him. The two brothers could only pray that their shots had caused him to miss Adam. They raced to the side of the hole and looked down to see Adam staring up at them with Kane's bloody body lying across his. Kane managed to utter some terrifying words to Adam.

"I am not the last brother."

Then Kane gasped and fell silent. Adam looked up at his brothers and held out his hand for them to help him out of the hole.

"You two sure waited until the last minute."

"You told us to wait til we were sure we would get him, older brother, and you said you wanted us to do what you said." Joe was grinning broadly covering the fear he had had a moment earlier.

"Come on, Adam, let's get you home and get you to bed for a rest after the doc has checked ya." Hoss pulled Adam to his feet and put an arm around his older brother's shoulders. Joe stepped up to do the same as they left the sheriff to deal with Kane's body. The three walked to the horses laughing with each other until Adam stopped.

"Do you believe he has another brother?"

"Don't know 'bout that, Adam. Let's not worry yet about that ifn we don't hafta. Let's go home."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"Dang, here I am as helpless as a baby. It all seemed like such a good deal a week ago when he met me and told me his name was Abel. What a joke. I see it now. I knew he seemed kind of familiar, but I never guessed that when he hired me to inspect old mines to see if they were worth reopening that it would lead to this. I can remember that first conversation as if it just happened.

The eyes - I should have paid closer attention. Those eyes and the madness lurking behind them must be a family trait. How could I have forgotten to be on my guard. I did have ample warning out in the desert when he said they had another brother. But the man was mad. Then when I was talking with Abel, it seemed like such a good deal. To inspect mines and use my education instead of chasing after stinking cattle. I forgot to be on my guard. The problem is they aren't going to be suspicious. Abel has seen to that. We've had late nights before, and I've spent the night in town and worked with him a second day before going home. We've been acting like the best of friends. How long will it take before . . .

"Wait a minute! I've got that meeting in Virginia City tomorrow night. Pa and I are on the city council and we have a lot of things to discuss. Pa knows I wouldn't miss that. It's too important. They will know something is up by then if I'm not home and someone will come looking for me.

But will they have any idea where to look? Did I ever mention an exact location of the mine?

Even if I didn't mention it Pa will know something is terribly wrong when I don't show up for the meeting. And I know my Pa will leave no stone unturned until he finds me just as Hoss Joe and me would do for him. I just have to trust and pray. I have no other choice. I hope it is soon the longer it takes the further away that SOB gets.

"All right, Pa will figure it out, but here I am still kicking myself for walking into a trap. He must have hidden the dynamite earlier. I wondered why he lit that cigar when we came in here. The man had never smoked, but he chose that time to start. It should have waved a red flag. I even asked him to extinguish it since there might have been gasses trapped where we were headed. And then when I least expected, he seemed to purposely disregard my warning and went right on ahead and then lit the cigar anyway with no respectable thought for our safety whatsoever. He never acted that way in any of the other mines we visited. But this one is the furthest away from town and has been closed the longest. It will take a while before anyone thinks to look here. That must have been his plan all along. We'd walked deep into the mine while I'd prattled on about tolerances and shoring while he grunted what I thought was his agreement. But suddenly, he pushed me to the ground and started laughing that crazy laugh all the Kane's have, and I realized too late who he was. He held the lit cigar inches away from the dynamite fuse as he started his story."

"So, Cartwright," Abel said. "I suppose you've figured out who I am and why we're here. You killed my two brothers. Now it's you're turn to die. But you will suffer like they did first. I'm going to light this dynamite, and no one will ever find you. Not your precious Pa or your brothers. You will rot down here, but you will suffer horribly first. Now, Cartwright, turn around, it's time to tie you up. Then I'm going to kill you. But first I want you to do this for me. Answer me this: why did you torture and kill my brothers?

Like his brothers, this Kane talked too much. It gave Adam a chance to try to fight back. However Kane still had that dynamite in his hand with that lit cigar only an inch away from lighting it. Adam recalled inching his way up the cold, hard wall as Kane talked. When the madman put the cigar back in his mouth to pull a rope from his coat to tie him, Adam sprang forward. It had gone well. He'd managed to pin Kane, but his foe was wiry and strong and pushed back hard. He didn't know why he tried to explain anything, but Adam did.

"Why do you Kanes think that defending yourself is murder? Do you expect everyone to be so cowed by what you think is your superior intelligence that we roll over and die in fear of you?"

His words infuriated Kane who pushed with all his might. Adam flew back, hitting the wall. When he tried to move forward he found that his foot was stuck between two rocks.

"Ha!" Kane yelled, "You just sealed your own fate," as he brought the red embers of the cigar to bring the fuse to a spark.

Nervously Adam watched very intently and his mind raced feverishly trying to conjure up a plan that would stall Kane from his accomplishing his deed, he wondered if he could talk him into delaying, but then it was too late as Kane tossed the dynamite, and all Adam could do was jerk his foot free and rush deeper into the mine to avoid being crushed by the rocks that the explosion would cause to fall. When the explosion came, he was slammed hard and rolled by the rocks and timbers. As the dust cleared and he stopped coughing, he felt around and realized that he was pinned under rocks and shoring timber. He'd wiggled his toes and squirmed enough to know everything was still working, but he was at the mercy of the rubble around him. He'd chuckled wryly as he thought maybe that wasn't such a good thing because he felt every rocky point and splinter he was resting against. But as the dust had cleared, he'd been surprised that he wasn't in total darkness. Had his lantern survived the cave in? He'd looked up then and saw that the explosion had collapsed the ventilation shaft. He could see the sky up above although it was a long way up above. He knew he wouldn't suffocate at least. He had to hope too that the explosion might have been heard then and perhaps a plume of dust had risen above the mine. No one might think anything of it because they might think it was simply an old mine collapsing, but when his family realized he was missing, then perhaps they'd put it all together and get to him before the huge timber across his chest shifted. He tried not to think about it.

Kane emerged from the cave into the afternoon sunshine and heaved a sigh of relief as he sucked in a deep breath. The dust of the collapse had followed him down the tunnel as he'd run nearly suffocating him. He turned toward the cave once he was breathing normally and smirked. "That's a pretty nice tomb, Cartwright! Better than you deserve!" he yelled toward the stone monument. But as he turned to leave, he realized that the horses were gone. They must have been spooked by the explosion and run off. It was going to be a problem for Kane. He had meant to hide Adam's horse away somewhere, but now it was probably running home. He had no idea where his rented horse might go, but he was going to have to walk back to town and would likely be seen if he wasn't very careful.

On the Ponderosa, Ben trotted down the steps but stopped mid-way as he surveyed the living room. "Where's Adam? I thought I heard him ride in a few minutes ago. I thought he'd be upstairs cleaning up by now. We're supposed to meet Frank and Stan at the International House for dinner before the meeting, and we need to get going soon."

Hoss looked up at his father. "He ain't here, Pa."

The two sons and father all looked toward the door, and then headed there. When they looked out, they saw Sport standing in the yard, breathing heavily and covered with sweat.

"Adam would never leave Sport in this condition! Where in tarnation is he? Hoss, Joe, get the horses. We need to find him. This is not the usual Adam behavior. He could be hurt somewhere."

Hoss did his best to backtrack Sport but the tracks got messed up with the tracks of another horse near the Thunderhead mine, and then they could see that the tracks of both horses had come to the mine from town. Adam had to be in that area somewhere. The sun was beginning to set and the Cartwrights were beginning to grow very worried. Ben groaned.

"There's so much ground to cover. You boys start looking, and I'll ride to town to get help."

As the family was going over the details of how to conduct the search, they were startled by a short man approaching them from behind a large pile of rocks. His voice was tinny and wheezy.

"You gents look a might lathered. Might you be looking for somethin' in particular out here?"

Ben dismounted and approached the bearded man and stared into his rheumy eyes. "What do you know?"

The man laughed until he wheezed so hard he had to stop. "Anything is possible...for a price."

Ben said "You got information old man?"

The old man said "Like I said, information is always available, but the price may be too high for ya."

Ben said "I'll pay your price, what do you know."

"Let me see the money first" said the old man.

Ben showed him a fifty-dollar bill.

The old man, snickered, and said "Yeah, that will do. Well just a little while ago I heard a blast at one of the old mines. Saw the dust plume too. Then I saw two horses, with no riders, high tailin' it out of there. Then saw just one man walking away from the mine. He was heading towards town. That's all I know, now can I have my money?"

Ben asked him which mine and the old man told him it was the old Anderson mine next to the Thunderhead mine. "That's the one that's been abandoned for years and years."

Ben thanked the old man and gave him the money. Ben then turned to Joe and Hoss and said "Boys, we know which mine Sport was at and it was close to that. I want Hoss to follow the road to town and see if you can find this 'man' the old man was talking about. Joe and I will go to the mine and see if Adam is there. Oh, and by the way, Hoss, when you get to town, holler at Roy and ask him for help. We may need it."

At the mouth of the mine, Ben's heart sank. It was clear that there had been a recent collapse, and only one set of footprints led out. They were too small to be Adam's. He and Joe moved into the mine after finding a lantern abandoned at the entrance. They lit it and moved to the pile of rubble from the collapse. Joe began to examine the rocks blocking the mine and could find no sign of an opening. He used one rock to pound on another hoping that Adam might be on the other side and hear him, but there was no answering sound.

"Pa, we need a map of this mine to see if there's another entrance."

But Ben already knew that this mine connected to the Gould and Curry mine and told Joe to head there for a map to show them how to get to it from the other mine. Joe and Cochise rode like the wind to the Gould and Curry mine offices. Joe told them what he and his Pa thought had happened at the old Anderson mine and asked if they had a map. They did and spread it out on the eating table. Joe saw what he thought was an opening further back in the mine toward the hill base. Joe asked the foreman if he thought that opening might be clear if the front of the mine was blown and the foreman told Joe that there was a real good chance of it. So Joe took off and went back to where Ben was to tell him about the opening. Ben looked at the plans and listened to what Joe had to say. He thought it was a probable solution and might be the only chance they had to save Adam. Ben asked Joe to go back to the Ponderosa to get dynamite and fuses needed to blow open the front of the mine.

"Pa, they said not to use dynamite. It could bring down more of the mine on Adam. They said to go in from the other opening and work our way toward this part. We should be able to get through without blasting. I'll get lanterns, picks, and shovels instead as well as men to work. We should be able to be through to this part in hours."

While Ben and Little Joe gathered supplies, Hoss was stomping down the boardwalk in town. He'd followed the smaller boot prints into the city but lost them in the muddle of prints there. Yet he knew there was someone in town who'd been at the mine and had probably left his brother to die there. He got to Roy and asked if anyone had reported a mine collapse. When Roy seemed stymied by the question, Hoss stormed off to the first saloon he could see thinking that someone who'd survived a cave-in would need a drink. He opened the swinging doors and saw what he was looking for because there was Abel sitting at a table enjoying his beer and acting as if he didn't have a care in the world. Hoss walked over to him, grabbed him by the collar, and demanded to know what he knew about what had happened to Adam. Abel looked at him with a smirk.

"What are you talking about Hoss? You mean you have misplaced Adam? Ah, that's a shame. Well I hope you find him. And soon." Then Abel gave that laugh that the Kane brothers were famous for.

It was then that Hoss realized exactly who Abel was. Hoss grabbed Abel's gun and grabbed his arm. "We're going to see the Sheriff. I know who you are now and what you did. You are going to jail!" Abel did his best to wiggle out of Hoss' grip but it was no use. Hoss was too strong and big. Abel continued to struggle as Hoss shoved him out of the saloon toward Sheriff Coffee's office, but they walked almost right into Sheriff Coffee who was coming into the saloon with a telegraph in his hand.

"Hoss, I got a telegram here that was being sent to your family. It's a warning that another of them Kane brothers was heading toward Virginia City. The telegram warns that he is mentally unstable and has an unquenchable desire for vengeance for his brothers' deaths."

Hoss' face turned scarlet as he understood exactly what this man had done. His voice was eerily soft as he said, "You done lured my brother into that mine, didn't ya? And then you did something to him so he couldn't get out, and you blew it up." Hoss swallowed hard. "How could ya do that to him? Adam's just about the best person you'd ever know. He'd a risked his life for yours. That's just who he is."

Abel laughed loudly, "How could I do it? With a stick of dynamite and a wave goodbye. He did look pretty scared to know he was in his own grave, but..." Kane never saw Hoss' fist, and then he was looking up at him from the street. The crazy man laughed again. "Don't be mad. I saved your family all those pesky funeral costs. You just need to hang a sign on the mine telling people he's buried there."

Kane was still laughing as Hoss walked away. Hoss rounded the corner off main street before wiping his shirt across his eyes. When Hoss got back to the mine, he got great news and some bad news from Joe.

"Hoss, he's alive. Pa's talking to him right now, but there's a huge timber support across him. It's holding him in place, and we need a winch to lift it. We're afraid if we try to put any large equipment in there, we'll make more rocks come down and Adam can't get out of the way."

Hoss smiled grimly and asked Joe where that timber was that was holding his brother prisoner. He didn't aim to let it do that much longer.

Hoss said "Joe show me where the tunnel is." Joe told him to follow him along the hillside to the tunnel entrance and then inside to where their Pa and several other people were gathered. Ben asked Hoss if he found the other man. Hoss told him

"Yeah, I did, Pa, and it was Kane's other brother. Can you believe that Abel was Kane's brother? He was so nice, and he and Adam got along great. Adam was conned too. It was just a cover for him to get close to Adam and lure him to this cave. He confessed everything. Roy has him locked up."

Ben and Joe couldn't believe what they were hearing. They both liked Abel too. They could only look at each other with questions in their eyes. Hoss asked to see the timber that was pinning Adam in the tunnel. Ben showed it to him, and Hoss said "Can I get down there next to it without it moving? Is there a space big enough for me? If there is, I can keep that timber off Adam while you clear a way to get him out." Ben told him he didn't want to risk two sons. Hoss told him "Pa, I'm going over there if I can with or without your help. Adam ain't gonna die down in here, not when I can save him."

Ben looked at Hoss sternly but realized that Hoss was determined to go lift that timber with or without Ben's approval. Reluctantly, he nodded at Hoss and helped Joe begin to clear a way into the tunnel to where the timber lay across Adam. Daylight was quickly failing and lanterns were brought out. Ben cautioned against lighting them in case of gas in the mine, but with the wide open ventilation shaft, Adam told them there was no worry about gases. Soon a crew was there clearing rubble as Hoss used his powerful arms and legs and made sure the timber didn't shift and crush Adam. As soon as they could, Joe and Ben helped the men pull Adam from under the timber and to safety. A sweating Hoss dropped the timber and collapsed in exhaustion next to his weary older brother.

"Kane's in the jail, Adam," Hoss told his half-asleep older brother. "You don't have to worry no more about him."

Adam opened his eyes and took Hoss's hand. "I need to see him. Help me get up."

Hoss looked up at his father looking for the answer to give his brother. "You might as well help him," Ben chuckled knowingly. "He won't rest until he does what he needs to anyway."

A short time later at the jail, Kane jumped when he opened his eyes and saw a bloody and torn but fully alive Adam Cartwright at the door of his cell. "Well, you're quite the cat, aren't you? You've managed to escape the Kane brothers, but I think your nine lives are rapidly dwindling."

"I'd ask why you did this," Adam said dryly, "but I know I won't get a sane answer anyway. I just wanted to see your face when you found out I was alive." He turned and walked toward the door. He turned one last time. "I'll see you in court tomorrow. The Circuit Judge happens to be in town, so you'll be tried and sentenced quickly."

Kane was quiet. That should have been the warning to all of them. The next morning, he was compliant when Sheriff Coffee unlocked the cell and said he was going to the courthouse. He meekly held out his hands for the handcuffs. Roy was impressed thinking that perhaps the man wasn't as crazy as he had been told. He took him to the courtroom, and the judge asked if there was a reason why he had to be handcuffed. Roy said no because he had been peaceful all night and all morning. The judge ordered the handcuffs removed. Soon after, the Cartwrights arrived and sat in the first row of chairs. Kane decided the time was perfect. He waited for his chance. Roy was the only one in the courtroom wearing a pistol as far as he could see. Kane saw his opportunity when Roy walked near the table where he was sitting. He rose clutching at his chest and crying out in pain as he dropped to the floor seemingly writhing in agony. When Roy knelt next to him to help, Abel grabbed at the sheriff's pistol and rose fluidly swinging the gun in an arcing path in front of him to keep others away until his aim came to rest on Adam.

"You're done this time, Cartwright! Nothing can save you this time."

Except the Cartwrights were not going to be fooled by a Kane again. Each of them had concealed a pistol. It was too late for Adam to draw his so Hoss grabbed him and jerked him to the side as everyone else in the courtroom except Ben and Joe ducked for cover. Ben and Joe pulled small caliber pistols and fired not waiting for Kane to make another move. At close range, those small calibers were as effective as any other weapon. With the firing of pistols, the crashing of furniture, and the shouts of men, it took a few moments for everyone to realize it was all over. Hoss helped Adam get up and apologized for landing on him when they fell. A circle of men stood around Kane's body. Adam sighed.

"I guess it's really over now."

Hoss and Ben nodded, but Joe had one last chilling comment.

"You don't suppose any of those devils spawned, do you?"


End file.
